Make it stop

Dear Joe,

I get it. I really do. Your loyalty is to your country above all others and what you rightly see as the biggest threat to the country you love is a second Tangerine Wankmaggot term in the White House. You thought you were the man to beat him in 2020 and you were right. You believe you are still the man to beat him in 2024. And I think you are right. The Republicans cannot get their shit together to stop him getting the nomination, so he will be their candidate. Despite the lack of enthusiasm (even in your own party) for a rematch, the majority of Americans would rather risk you living for another four years than face the prospect of the “American carnage” your opponent openly plans to unleash. I get it.

I also get that US politicians are not supposed to criticise Israel. Everyone is supposed to just say “Israel has a right to defend itself” and leave it at that. But it should not and cannot be left at that.

Yes, you have criticised the indiscriminate slaughter of the Palestinians in Gaza. Yes, you’ve called for restraint. Yes, you’ve said the actions of the Israeli military have completely disregarded the supposed “rules of war”. 

While many people, including your own family I’m sure, have spent the past few days celebrating the birth millennia ago of a man from that very part of the world, millions of people living there now are being subjected to hell on earth.

There is one person on the planet who can make a difference and that person is you, Joe. Don’t call Netanyahu to warn him (the two of you hate one another anyway, so what would be the point?). Just hold a press conference and say that you will not sign another bill that offers military or any other financial support to the Israeli government while its campaign of terror continues in Gaza.    

The Oxford dictionary, as one of your aides may have pointed out, defines terrorism as “the use of violent action in order to achieve political aims”. On what planet does this not describe the actions of the Israeli Defence Force in Gaza? Your government, Joe, is financing terrorism. How does that sit with your Catholic conscience?

Netanyahu claims his military are fighting Hamas and will not stop until it is eliminated. Well, good luck with that, given that everyone knows the leadership of Hamas cannot be found in Gaza. The leadership are living in luxury in Qatar. There are people in Israel, Netanyahu almost certainly amongst them, who would dearly love to see the Palestinian people disappear. And right now they are doing their best to make this happen.

The irony of your ardent support for the Ukrainian people and lack of any support beyond lip service for the Palestinians is lost on no one.

Could telling Netanyahu to get well and truly stuffed cost you the next election? Maybe. But telling your UN ambassador to vote against (or at best abstain) any resolution demanding an immediate ceasefire is already losing you a lot of support. 

You have blood on your hands, Joe. Can you really live with that?